Maternal & Child Health Advisory Task Force
Work Groups and Plans

Maternal and Child Health Advisory Task Force Restructure (February 2024)

Chairs:

• Chair:  Sameerah Bilal-Roby, Professional Representative
• Chair-elect: Rachel Gilbertson, Community Health Board Representative

MDH agency staff:

• Nicole Brown, CYSHN Section Manager and Title V CYSHN Director
• Judy Edwards, MCH Assistant Section Manager
• Jennie Lippert, Family Home Visiting Manager
• Savannah Riddle, MCH Section Manager and Title V MCH Director
• Elizabeth Taylor-Schiro, Title V Coordinator
• Noya Woodrich, Child and Family Health Division Director

Purpose:

The Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Advisory Task Force was created by the Minnesota Legislature in 1982, and reestablished in 2012, to advise the Commissioner of Health on:

• The health care services/needs of maternal and child health populations in Minnesota.
• The use of funds for maternal and child health and children with special health needs administered through MDH.
• And the priorities and goals for maternal and child health activities.

Deadlines:

• 2024 Biannual Report: The Task Force prepares and presents to the Commissioner.
• 2024 Betty Hubbard Annual Maternal and Child Health Leadership Award: Betty (Elizabeth) Hubbard, a longtime advocate for the health needs of mothers and children and an original member of the Task Force, died in 1989. In 1990, the Task Force and the Minnesota Department of Health honored her work and her memory by establishing the Annual Betty Hubbard Leadership Award. This award of recognition is presented to individuals or organizations in Minnesota making significant contributions to maternal and child health.

Maternal and Child Health Task Force Committees

Executive committee

MDH agency staff: Judy Edwards

Task force members: Sameerah Bilal-Roby (Chair), Gene Nichols, Stephanie Graves, Rachel Gilbertson, Stephanie de Sam Lazaro

Role/responsibility:

• The Executive Committee is responsible for conducting the interim business of the Task Force, which includes recommending appointments for statutory vacancies and ex-officio memberships.
• The Executive Committee will consist of the chair, chair-elect or past chair, and up to four additional Task Force members. All members of the Executive Committee must be commissioner appointed members.

Meeting information/frequency: At a minimum, the Executive Committee will meet approximately one month prior to a Task Force meeting to conduct business and plan the full Task Force meeting agenda. 
 

Betty Hubbard MCH Leadership Award Committee

MDH agency staff: Judy Edwards

Members: Stephanie de Sam Lazaro, Rachel Gilbertson, Lindsey Wimmer

Role/responsibility:

• Assisting in the annual review of the award policy and procedures and to determine and recommend any needed changes.
• Providing input into the annual open nominations process, including recommending changes to the eligibility criteria, nomination and scoring forms, and announcement flyers.
• Reviewing and scoring nominations received and making recommendations of final nominees to Executive Committee.
• Participating in the selection process for final award recipients.
   

Child and Adolescent

MDH agency staff: Mariah Geiger-Williams (support from Julie NeitzelCarr and Kristin Teipel)

Charge to the subcommittee:

Develop meeting schedule, workplan, and timeline to include the following activities: monitor and advise on the Minnesota Partnership Adolescent and Young Adult Health Plan. (Originally implemented in 2019 and updated in 2023 to reflect data and community input during the COVID pandemic), participate in MCH Title V 5-year needs assessment prioritization (if not completed) and make recommendations on priorities identified related to child and adolescent health, review and advise on implementation of strategies and activities identified in the Title V MCH 2025 Needs Assessment throughout the grant cycle, Identify and recommend engagement with community partners that work with youth or youth serving organizations that will assist in implementation or improving needs identified in the needs assessment, review and provide feedback to MN Title V Action Plan or CFH Statewide Strategic Plan related strategies or activities related to populations or communities most affected by the priority needs identified in the 2025 needs assessment, review MDH’s Statewide Health Assessment and MCH 5-year needs assessment to identify gaps in services or needs identified for populations experiencing inequities, provide recommendations to address inequities that may impact children and adolescents, review and provide feedback to the Minnesota Student Survey and related research and surveys on the health status of Minnesota’s children and adolescents, Review and provide feedback on adolescent mental health/mental well-being, teen pregnancy and STI, monitor CFH programs designed to improve adolescent health outcomes, reduce teen pregnancy and STI rates, provide recommendations to address or reduce disparities among populations and communities with the highest discrepancies and health inequities, submit recommendations for review, feedback, and vote to approve to full task force, advise the commissioner of health on priorities for funding for child and adolescent health, establish in consultation with the commissioner statewide outcomes that will improve the health status of child and adolescent health, monitor the Children’s Cabinet work on priority areas of children’s mental health and youth justice and opportunity.

Children and Youth with Special Health Needs (CYSHN)

MDH agency staff: Heather Stillwell, CYSHN Section (subcommittee staff), Nicole Brown (CYSHN Manager)

Charge to the subcommittee:

The subcommittee will advise on and review the federally mandated Maternal and Child Health Needs Assessment and priority maternal and child health indicators every five years related to the core area of Children and Youth with Special Health Needs, advise and provide recommendations for the strategies and activities included within Minnesota’s Title V (MCH) Block Grant related to the core area of Children and Youth with Special Health Needs, advise on the type, frequency, and impact of health care services provided to Children and Youth with Special Health Needs under existing MCH programs, including programs administered by the Commissioner of Health, advise the commissioner of health on priorities for funding for Children and Youth with Special Health Needs, establish in consultation with the commissioner statewide outcomes that will improve the health status of Children and Youth with Special Health Needs.

Tasks/deadlines:

• Recommendations for Title V Needs Assessment Priorities to be brought to the full committee by Aug 2024.
• Recommendations for Title V Strategies and Activities to be brought to the full committee.

Family Home Visiting (FHV)

MDH agency staff: Jennie Lippert, FHV Manager

Charge to the subcommittee:

The purpose of the FHV subcommittee will be to advise and provide recommendations to the MDH-FHV program from a community and home visiting professional standpoint. The subcommittee may assist in the evaluation of the overall performance of MDH-FHV, including: review/monitor/assess specific FHV models, grants and data, serve as an advocate as it pertains to FHV and the community it serves, gather input from/serve as a liaison with relevant constituencies, provide feedback to MDH-FHV leaders from the community, provide technical expertise, serve as an independent/unbiased sounding board and assist staff in determining important activities and priorities.

Infant and Early Childhood

MDH agency staff: Mary Ottman

Charge to the subcommittee:

The Infant and Early Childhood Sub-Committee was established in February 2024. The charge to this group is to become knowledgeable about CFH infant and early childhood programs and initiatives; participate in MCH Title V 5-year needs assessment prioritization (if not completed) and make recommendations on priorities identified related to infant and early childhood; monitor and advise on implementation of strategies and activities identified in the Title V MCH 2025 Needs Assessment throughout the grant cycle; identify and recommend engagement or networking opportunities with community partners working to improve infant health outcomes and reduce infant mortality and low birthweight to MCH; review and provide feedback on infant and early childhood strategies to the MN Title V Action Plan and the CFH Statewide Strategic Plan; review MDH’s Statewide Health Assessment and MCH 5-year needs assessment to identify gaps in services or needs identified for populations experiencing inequities; provide recommendations to address inequities that may impact infant and early childhood; review and provide feedback on action plans developed by MDH Safe Sleep and Unexpected Infant Death initiatives; submit recommendations for review, feedback, and approval by full task force to advise the commissioner of health on priorities for funding for infant and early childhood; and establish in consultation with the commissioner statewide objectives to improve the outcomes of infant and early childhood health.

Perinatal (I-MOM)

Subcommittee lead: Joi Elmore/Michelle O’Brien

MDH agency staff: Ramya Palaniappan (Anne Walaszek)

Charge to the subcommittee:

Develop and participate in the implementation of a statewide perinatal health strategic plan. The maternal health strategic plan will promote innovative program development, identify policy needs, and other activities to address and support improved maternal health outcomes, the I-MOM perinatal subcommittee will be co-led by an MCH Advisory Task Force member and community leader(s), I-MOM will provide regular updates to the full Task Force on its work, which is expected to continue through September 29, 2027, this work will also support key issues identified by the Task Force in the Commissioners report, and its work will be added to the Task Force workplan, advise on and review the federally mandated Maternal and Child Health Needs Assessment and priority maternal and child health indicators every five years related to the women health, advise and provide recommendations for the strategies and activities included within Minnesota’s Title V (MCH) Block Grant related to the core area of women health, advise on the type, frequency, and impact of health care services provided to women under existing MCH programs, including programs administered by the Commissioner of Health.